Dodgers, Diamondbacks have a budding rivalry

Two ground staff members work on the display screen at the Sydney Cricket ground before the Major League Baseball opening series in Sydney, Wednesday, March 19, 2014. The MLB season-opening two-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney will be played this weekend. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

When Mark Ellis was hit by a Patrick Corbin pitch two batters into the Dodgers’ first game against the Diamondbacks last year, it seemed innocent enough. By June 11, 2013, the teams were meeting for the eighth time. The Dodgers were 28-36 and sitting in last place in the National League West; the D-Backs were 36-29 and sitting in first. Not much of a rivalry there.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth inning, a pitch from the Diamondbacks’ Ian Kennedy hit Yasiel Puig in the face. Puig stayed in the game, but the war had begun. Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke hit Miguel Montero in the back in the top of the seventh inning; both benches emptied but didn’t fight. Kennedy plunked Greinke in the helmet in the bottom of the seventh, leading to arguably the biggest brawl of the season and a bevy of YouTube “highlights.” (Don Mattingly throwing down Alan Trammell, anyone?)

The ugly incident might have turned the Dodgers’ season around. By Sept. 19, the Dodgers had a 9 1/2-game lead on second-place Arizona in the National League West. By beating the Diamondbacks at Chase Field, the Dodgers could clinch the division title and celebrate on their rivals’ yard. When a Diamondbacks official reportedly told the Dodgers to confine their celebration to the clubhouse, several players sprinted across the field, past the outfield wall and jumped in a swimming pool. Adding to a near-unanimous chorus of Diamondbacks players, even Arizona Sen. John McCain was outraged. McCain used his Twitter account to call the Dodgers “a bunch of overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brats.”

Nine days earlier, the teams announced they were going to Sydney. The timing of events made for good showbusiness and talk of a rivalry. If it makes for good baseball too, the two-game series will be a success.